Roofing shingle



R. LE RAE CORBIN 3,434,259 I ROOFING SHINGLE Y Fild June 5, 1966 March 25, 1969 R w N m m 2 m W .m I 1 m wxw b M an United States Patent US. Cl. 52-420 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Asphalt roofing shingles are secured directly to the roof structure by pressure sensitive adhesive. Additionally, self-sealing adhesive can be provided on the side edges of shingles so that the butt joints between adjacent shingles on a roof are sealed to prevent water from traveling through the joints to the roof structure.

This invention relates to roofing shingles, particularly shingles which have improved effectiveness in waterproofing the roof structure over which they have been installed.

'Asphalt roofing shingles have been in use for many years. Their general construction has remained substantially unchanged, comprising an asphalt saturated base sheet of fibrous material, the upper surface of which is covered with a coating of an asphaltic or other bituminous composition. Embedded in the upper coating is a layer of mineral granules which contribute to the resistance of the shingle to weathering and also provide the shingle with various colors and textures. Each shingle is comprised generally of a head portion and a butt portion. The head portion of a shingle in one horizontal row or course is usually covered by the butt portions of shingles in the next higher course. The butt portion is exposed and usually, though not necessarily, is provided with slots or cut-outs extending to about the dividing line between the butt and head portion so that the length of each shingle installed on the roof appears to be equal to the distance between slots or to the distance between a slot and the end of the shingle.

This type of construction, because it prevents water from penetrating the shingle itself and since shingles are usually applied on a roof so that at any point there are at least two layers of shingles overlying the roof structure, is effective most of the time in protecting the roof structure against water. It does not prevent water from reaching the roof structure in all cases, however, inasmuch as high winds often lift the unfastened butt portions of shingles, enabling rain to be driven beneath them and eventually to reach the roof structure. In addition, the nails used to secure the shingles to the roof structure often produce holes slightly larger than the nail shank, and water reaching this area can travel down between the shingle body and the nail shank to the roof structure. Also, water can pass through the joint between two adjacent shingles in a horizontal course, and under proper conditions eventually can reach the roof structure.

With the advent of self-sealing shingles the problem of lifting of the butt portion of shingles was effectively overcome. In a self-sealing shingle construction, a heatactivated or pressure-activated adhesive is provided on the back surface of the shingle adjacent the lower edge of the butt portion or on the upper surface of the shingle just above the ends of the cut-outs, in both cases serving to adhere the tabs of the shingles to the shingles in the next lower course. While the introduction of self-sealing shingles was a significant step toward improving the effectiveness of asphalt roofing shingles in preventing water ice from reaching the roof structure, still it has not overcome the tendency of water, under the proper conditions, to reach the nail holes and the joints between adjacent shingles and eventually to travel downwardly toward the roofing structure. While it is generally agreed that additional waterproofing features would be highly beneficial, no practical solution to the problem is known to have been proposed prior to this invention.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved roofing shingle which effectively prevents the entry of water to the roof structure beneath the shingle.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a shingle which can incorporate self-sealing features.

Briefly, the present invention comprises a roofing shingle having pressure-sensitive adheseive on its undersurface adjacent the upper edge of the shingle enabling the shingle to be adhered to the roof structure without the use of nails. In applying the shingle it is merely necessary to press down on the upper edge portion of the shingle overlying the adhesive to adhere the shingle to the roof surface. This construction eliminates nail holes which previously provided one route for water to travel toward the roof structure beneath the shingle, and in addition, enables the shingles to be applied to the roof much faster than was previously possible by nailing them to the roof. Further, pressure-sensitive or heat activated adhesive may be provided on the side edges of the shingles so that when adjacent shingles in a horizontal course are butted together the resulting butt joints will be sealed by the adheseive to prevent the passage of water through the joint.

The nature of the invention will be more fully understood and other objects may become apparent when the following detailed description is considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a typical construction of a roofing shingle embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of portions of three courses of shingles as they would appear when applied on a roof surface;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of shingles in overlapping relationship, illustrating a different location of self-sealing adhesive than that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of two adjacent abutting shingles, illustrating the edge coating feature of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation of a stack of shingles of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 as they would appear in a shingle bundle.

In the following description, reference to asphalt roofing shingles, as bituminous roofing shingles commonly are called in the industry, is intended to include both asphalt shingles and shingles coated with other bituminous compositions.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawing, reference numeral 10 indicates a roofing shingle constructed in accordance with the usual construction of asphalt roofing shingles. It is comprised of a head portion 12 and a butt portion 14, with a layer of roofing granules 16 covering the entire upper surface of the shingle. In the usual construction of an asphalt roofing shingle the butt portion is provided with two cutouts 18 extending almost to the center line of the shingle to about where the head portion begins. The distance between the cutouts 18 is the same as the distance from a cutout to the side edge 20 of the butt portion of the shingle. The side edge 20 is offset slightly inwardly from the side edge 22 of the head portion so that when two identical shingles are abutted their side edges at the butt portions will be separated slightly to simulate the appearance of a cutout 18. This feature is shown clearly in FIG. 5.

On the back surface of the shingle adjacent its upper edge is a stripe of pressure-sensitive adhesive 24. While a full stripe is illustrated, obviously the adhesive may be provided in the form of a series of spaced areas of adhesive. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a stripe of self-sealing adhesive 26 is provided on the upper face of the shingle in the head area adjacent the ends of the cutouts to seal down the tab or butt of the next higher shingle in the roofing arrangement. The stripe 26 may be either solid or intermittent, as desired, and should be of the pressure-sensitive type to assure that the shingle butt is securely attached and is not susceptible to being lifted by wind and thus possibly destroy the bond between the adhesive 24 and the roof. The adhesive 24 is pressure-sensitive because it is essential that the shingle be adhered at the time of application and not after some relatively lengthy interval.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a number of shingles are shown as they would appear when applied to the surface of a roof. The roof structure is indicated by reference numeral 28 and a starter strip located at the lower edge of the roof is indicated at 30. The starter strip is shown adhered at its upper edge to the roof structure by pressuresensitive adhesive 31 and at its lower edge by nails 35. While nails are not necessary to adhere the roofing shingles themselves to the roof it is preferred that they be used as illustrated to secure the lower edge of the starter strip to the roof. Since the starter strip normally consists of the head portion cut from an actual shingle, it would have no adhesive means on its underside or its lower edge to adhere it to the roof, hence the need for nails.

Two shingles 32 and 34 are illustrated as being applied to the starter strip. The upper face of the starter strip at its lower edge portion is provided with a strip of selfsealing adhesive 36 which is in contact with the back surface of shingles 32 and 34 at their lower butt portions to hold the butt portions or tabs down. Adjacent the upper edge of the shingles 32 and 34 the stripe 38 of pressuresensitive adhesive on the underside of the shingles is in contact with the roof structure 28 and holds the shingles to the roof structure. Shingles 40 and 42 of the second course are applied over the head portions of the shingles 32 and 34 so that the tabs of the shingles 40 and 42 are held down by the stripe of self-sealing adhesive 44 of shingles 32 and 34 and so that the pressure-sensitive adhesive 45 on the backs of shingles 40 and 42 adhere them to the roof structure 28. The shingle 46 of the third course is applied in the same manner.

It is preferred that the adhesive stripe adhering the shingles to the roof structure be located in the area illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 since, as will be noted in FIGS. 2 and 3, the self-sealing adhesive stripe of one shingle is located directly above the pressure-sensitive stripe of the next lower shingle. When the tabs of one shingle are pressed against the self-sealing adhesive of the next lower shingle to adhere the tabs to the adhesive, the pressure so exerted is transmitted downwardly to the pressure-sensitive adhesive of the next lower shingle. By following this procedure it is assured that the applicator will apply pressure to the pressure-sensitive adhesive adhering the shingles to the roof surface.

Referring to FIG. 4, shingles 48 and 50 are illustrated, which are of the same type as the shingles shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 except that the self-sealing adhesive stripe 52 is provided on the back surface of the shingles adjacent the lower edge of the tabs 54. Pressure-sensitive adhesive 56 is provided on the back surface adjacent the upper edge of the shingle as in the case of the shingles described above. With this arrangement the tabs of the shingles are adhered to the shingle directly beneath them, providing the automatic application of pressure discussed in the above paragraph, since the adhesive 52, when applied in this area, will be located substantially directly above the pressure-sensitive adhesive on the upper edge of the shingle two courses lower.

Referring to FIG. 5, shingles 58 and 60 are shown in abutting relationship as they would appear if they were adjacent shingles in the same horizontal course. The edges of the head portions of the shingles 58 and 60 are provided with pressure-sensitive or heat-activated adhesive 62 and 64, respectively so that at the butt joint 66 formed by the abutting side edges of the shingles 53 and 60, the coatings 62 and 64 will adhere to each other and form an effective waterproof barrier. This prevents water contacting the joint 66 from seeping downwardly toward the roofing structure. While the shingles illustrated have the usual configuration of cutouts and offset side edges at the butt portion, it is apparent that shingles of rectangular outline, having straight side edges connecting the upper and lower edges, also can be provided with adhesive on the side edges to seal the joint between adjacent shingles.

Referring to FIG. 6, a stack 68 of shingles 70 is illustrated as being typical of the stack inside the shingle bundle. Each shingle 70 is provided with stripes of pressure-sensitive adhesive 72 and self-sealing adhesive 74 in the locations illustrated and described in connection with the shingle of FIG. 1. In order to prevent the adhesive of one shingle from sticking to the adjacent shingle the upper edge portion of each shingle face is provided with a strip 76 of non-stick means, such as release paper. The strip 76 coincides with the pressure-sensitive adhesive stripe 72 so that adjacent shingles will not stick together and can be readily removed from the stack. In the same manner, the back of each shingle above the ends of the cutouts is provided with a similar release strip 78 to overlie the selfsealing stripes 74 when in a bundle. The release papers 76 and 78 can remain on the shingles since those portions covered by the paper are not exposed to view after the shingles have been installed. It is not as simple to provide adequate release means for a self-sealing stripe located as illustrated in FIG. 4, since this would require a release paper to be provided on the upper surface adjacent the lower edge of the butt portion, which, if left on the shingle, would be visible after the shingle has been installed. There are other methods of providing release means for an adhesive stripe in such a location, however, although they are not as preferable as the means illustrated in FIG. 6. An example of such a means would be to cover the adhesive stripes with a removable paper which would be stripped from the stripe just before the shingle is applied.

Examples of pressure-sensitive adhesives, which could be used both as the adhesive stripe adhering the shingle to the roof surface and as the coating material applied on the edges of the shingles to waterproof the joint,

are:

Example 1 Percent Thermoplastic resin (Ring & Ball Softening Point- 210 F.-230 F. Penetration value at 77 F .5 1.

Available under the name Kendex 4430, a product of the Kendall Company) Hydrogenated methyl ester of rosin (Available under the name Hercolyn, a product of Hercules Powder Company) 5 Total Example 2 Percent Thermoplastic resin (Ring & Ball Softening Point F.200 F. Penetration value at 77 F. 69. Available under the name Kendex 3430, a product of the Kendall Company) 78 Polybutene (LiquidAvailable under the name Indopal Polybutene H-300," a product of Amoco Chemical Corporation) l5 Glycerin resin ester (Available under the name Stabelite Ester 10, a product of Hercules Powder Company) 3 Colloidal silica (Available under the name Cab-O- Sil M 5, a product of the Cabot Company) 4 Total 100 Examples of heat-activated adhesives which can be used to coat the side edges of the shingles are:

Example 1 Percent Petroleum resin 50 Unfilled coating asphalt 50 Total 100 The Ring and Ball softening point of this mixture was 185 F. and the penetration value at 77 F. was 10.

Example 2 Percent Petroleum resin 100 The Ring and Ball softening point of the resin was in the range of 175 F.l95 F. and the penetration value at 77 F. was in the range of -5.

It should now be apparent that the shingle of the present invention effectively prevents water from reaching the underlying roof structure and also facilitates, and considerably shortens the time of, the installation of roofing shingles. Their manufacture is not substantially different from the manufacture of the usual type of shingle since it merely requires application of adhesive to the back of the shingles, to permit direct adhesion to the roof, and to the side edges of the shingles, to provide a waterproof joint between adjacent abutting shingles, both of which operations can be carried out by the use of applicator rolls or brushes well known in the art. It should be clear that both features of this invention, the provision of adhesive on the back head portion and on the side edges, can be used independently of or in conjunction with each other.

It is to be understood that variations and modifications of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It also is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be interpreted as limited to the specific embodiment disclosed herein, but only in accordance with the appended claims when read in the light of the foregoing disclosure.

What I claim is:

1. In a shingle arrangement on a roof structure, each shingle comprising (a) a head portion and a butt portion, and wherein (b) the shingles are arranged in horizontal courses with the butt portions of shingles in one course overlying the head portions of shingles in the next lower course, the improvement comprising (0) pressure-sensitive adhesive on the back surface of each shingle in the head portion thereof,

(d) the adhesive engaging the roof structure over which the shingles are applied and adhering the shingles directly to the structure.

2. A shingle arrangement as recited in claim 1, wherein the shingles include additionally self-sealing adhesive on a major face thereof in engagement with a major face of shingles in a next adjacent course.

3. A shingle arrangement as recited in claim 2, wherein the self-sealing adhesive of the shingles is substantially in alignment with the pressure-sensitive adhesive of shingles in a lower course.

4. A shingle arrangement as recited in claim 2, wherein at least a substantial portion of the adjacent side edges of adjacent shingles in a horizontal course abut to form a butt joint therebetween, the abutting side edge portions of the shingles having self-sealing adhesive thereon to seal the butt joint against the entry of water.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 17,143 11/1928 Fischer 52420 X 2,205,307 6/1940 Parsons 52-419 1,881,438 10/1932 Fischer 52420 2,300,488 11/1942 Cuno 52420 2,863,405 12/1958 Leibrook 52420 3,003,289 10/1961 Leibrook 52--420 3,121,649 2/1964 Oliver 52--420 3,138,897 6/1964 McCorkle 52-420 3,252,257 5/1966 Price 52-420 3,300,927 1/1967 Bettoli 52-420 JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner. 

